Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling and heating cup holder capable of being mounted in a vehicle, or the like to store a cup and perform cooling and heating functions.
Description of Related Art
A vehicle, or the like, has been provided with various cup holders. This cup holder generally has only a simple holding function. However, in some vehicles, a cup holder having cooling and heating functions has been introduced. In the case of this cup holder, a thermoelectric element using electrical energy has been used to achieve both cooling and heating effects, but a technology of efficiently mounting the cup holder in the vehicle and efficiently providing an air conditioning system is insufficient. The reason is probably that there was no an effort to mount the cup holder capable of performing both the cooling and heating functions in the vehicle up to the present so as to allow a practical function to be appropriately implemented.
The present invention relates to a cooling and heating storage apparatus of a cup holder using a thermoelectric element, and more particularly, to a cup holder storage apparatus capable of making a beverage cold or hot by allowing the thermoelectric element having a cooled surface and a heated surface generated upon being applied with power to be in contact with a surface of the cup holder and using heat conduction characteristics, in which heat exchange between the thermoelectric elements and heat dissipating fins is performed in a large area. In this configuration, air flows from an upper direction to a lower direction, and an air inlet is formed so that the air is introduced toward a bent part of a passenger body side of an interior main air conditioning apparatus of a vehicle, which are to improve performance of a cooling and heating cup holder.
Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2012-0066212 A entitled “Cooling and Heating Box of Vehicle” according to the related art discloses a cooling and heating box of a vehicle capable of improving cooling and heating efficiencies. The related art has proposed a cooling and heating box of a vehicle using a thermoelectric element and including a container mounted in an interior of the vehicle, the cooling and heating box including a plurality of thermoelectric elements mounted on an outer peripheral surface of a bottom side of the container so that one side of the thermoelectric element contacts the outer peripheral surface, a duct being in contact with the other side of the thermoelectric element and formed to discharge heat generated from the other side of the thermoelectric element during an operation of the thermoelectric element to the outside, and a controlling unit performing a control so as to supply power by connecting the thermoelectric elements in parallel with each other in the case in which it is intended to used as a heating box and connecting the thermoelectric elements in series with each other in the case in which it is intended to used as a cooling box, whereby cooling and heating efficiencies may be improved in the case in which it is used as the heating box and in the case in which it is used as the cooling box.
However, even though the related art is used, it is not an efficient structure when the air conditioning system is efficiently provided, or the cooling and heating functions are simultaneously performed, or one thermoelectric element is used.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.